MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he sees no European leaders willing to work toward a sustainable settlement in Ukraine.

"This isn’t about someone being allowed to play a role or not. The question is whether they want to. And if they do, can they actually play a role that will lead to lasting peace," Lavrov said in response to a question from a French journalist about whether Russia was prepared to let Europeans participate in the Ukrainian settlement. "I don’t see anyone like that in Europe among those actively involved in the Ukrainian issue," he added at a news conference reviewing the results of Russian diplomacy in 2025.

Lavrov noted that he was primarily referring to Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Helsinki, the Baltics, and London, which, according to him, "is increasingly becoming the voice of the European Union." "Maybe they have submitted a readmission request, I don't know. They formed this quartet: [British Prime Minister Keir] Starmer, [French President Emmanuel] Macron, [German Chancellor Friedrich] Merz, and, of course, [European Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen and other Brussels officials. I don't see them showing any interest in ending the conflict," the Russian foreign minister concluded.